-Narrator's POV-
Inside the forest near the Arlam Village. A serene yet mysterious atmosphere lingered just like every other night.
The rustling leaves, the occasional hoot of an owl, and the howl of winds, along with the sounds that insects make, create a rather melodious and tranquil vibe.
Although, something was different this time.
The forest seemed to become alive as the forest started to show a magnificent and glorious scene.
Fireflies flying around, along with the nocturnal creatures doing their business.
Hunting, hiding, all kinds of actions.
Along with it, the spirits were quite active as well, as a plethora of twinkling lights, each of different colors, seemed to be gathering in a specific place.
Of course, this phenomenon didn't go unnoticed as in a mansion not far away; three beings simultaneously looked towards the spot where the spirits seemed to gather.
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"That certainly looks quite inteee~resting" Mused a tall and lean man with pale skin, and long dark blue hair as he looked at the spot of the forest where the spirits gathered with his heterochromic eyes of blue and yellow.
He looks like a jester, if one might say, as the periphery of his left eye is decorated by a purple eye shadow, while he also has matching purple lips.
His outfit also further supported that notion as he wore an outfit comparable to that of a jester, a rather majestic one as he wore a pink and purple shirt and pants, with long black and red boots, a long black collared cape with red lining, and a miniature black top-hat.
Although, don't let his rather strange appearance fool you, as he is one of the most powerful people in the entire kingdom.
He was sitting in a room that seemed to be like an office, complete with the wooden desk and grand-looking chair, along with bookshelves filled with different kinds of books with uncertain subjects.
"Oh? And it looks like I wasn't the only one who noo~ticed~. Figures, It's a fire spirit just like hii~im, afterall" The Man, Roswaal L Mathers mused one last time before he continued doing his paperwork.
Suddenly, his hand stopped, and his face hardened and he muttered.
"But, the book didn't mention anything about this… It seems like I need to go and see who it is
Aftera~all." Roswaal then proceeded to stand up from his seat before he walked out.
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In the forbidden library, a child with pale cream blonde hair tied into a frilly vertical-drill shaped twin tails suddenly turned her large sky-blue eyes with pink butterfly Iris towards the direction of where the spirits were gathering.
"It seems that Bubby is gonna have a new subordinate, I suppose"
The child wore a pink frilly ornate dress with white trimmings and an exposed front, leaving her legs which are covered in pink and purple vertically-striped tights visible, she also dons a pair of pink shoes with butterfly straps in both of her feet, while also having a large pink ribbon adorned upon the left side of her waist, and another similar pair were tied at the top of her twin tails.
The right side of her head sported a petite crown, serving as a nice accessory that complements her overall appearance rather perfectly.
Overall she looks like an adorable young girl around the age of eleven or twelve.
But judging her by her appearance is a fatal mistake, as she is, in fact, a great spirit that has lived for around four hundred years and is quite a powerful mage.
"Betty just hopes that, whoever this new spirit is, It's going to be good, I suppose." She voiced before she got back to reading her huge book.
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Meanwhile, the cause of this commotion, Jin, just looked at the little chick bathed in a fire in the middle of the forest, undergoing what seems to be a metamorphosis of some sort, in wonder.
The two were encased by a plethora of spirits, which prevented the little phoenix's change from affecting the surrounding forest.
"This is quite unexpected; who knew Phi would just react, or rather change, like this after I summoned them into this world?" Jin muttered in interest as his purple amethyst-like eyes gazed at the fire-encased little phoenix.
He wore a tight-fitting black T-shirt and baggy gray pants, while his medium-length, jet-black hair was tied into a ponytail behind his head. An empty black sheath hangs on the left side of his waist while he holds a large duffle bag full of gifts in his right hand
Besides him was Kyomu floating who didn't change at all, unlike Phi, puzzling Jin, but he shrugged it off not long after.
"Ehm… I bet that those three would've noticed this by now, and are on the way here. So much for being a surprise" Jin sighed before he suddenly reached out his hand and grabbed Kyomu's hilt before slashing apart the icicle that was coming his way.
"Speak of the devil. It's a bit rude to fire off an icicle as a greeting, you know" Jin turned his head towards a tree not far away.
"Haha, my bad~ I knew you were gonna deflect it." Puck, the murder kitty flew from behind the tree.
Jin looked at him blankly before he shook his head and asked.
"What's up with you always appearing behind a tree?"
"Eheheh, because I'm a cat!" Puck replies with a feline smile.
"Anyhow, I came because of the gathering of spirits here, which means a spirit will be born among the lesser ones, although I didn't expect it to be much more than that"
Suddenly, his tone changed into a grave one as he continued.
"Why is a spirit with a near equal strength as a great spirit awakened near me, the current great spirit of fire?"
"ah…Right, well…how do I explain this…First of all, Phi has no plans on even taking that position, and second. Phi isn't exactly a normal spirit; I found him, along with this sword, together In an old temple." Jin casually replies.
"Hooh~? Quite an interesting tale that you saa~id there, young man. mind telling us where the location of that te~mple is?" Roswaal's voice echoed before Puck could respond.
The two looked above to see Roswaal landing amidst the spirits.
"You must be Roswaal, I presume?"Jin questioned with a raised brow.
"Indee~d, I'm Roswaal L. Mathers, lord of this domain that you are sta~anding upon." Roswaal smiled as he walked towards Jin and Puck.
"I see! Just the man I was looking for, although our meeting was a bit earlier than I expected. Which was made possible by my contracted spirit." Jin responded, emphasizing the contracted part, to ease the two.
"I apologize for the commotion that me and my partner caused, I also didn't know this would happen as, again, It was not too long ago that I met him and subsequently unsealed him." Jin bowed, before smiling as he said.
"Azuma Jin, it's a pleasure meeting you."
"Oh? So, it's you. Ram did mention a boy that she and Rem met yesterd~ay, I didn't expect that boy to get contracted with a spirit nearing the power of great spi~irits; isn't it quite unbelievable and convenient?" Roswaal voiced, in suspicion, pinching his chin as he examined Jin with his heterochromic eyes.
"Well, Puck knows the answer to that, but I'll tell you for convenience's sake, I have a Divine Protection that gets me into all kinds of situations, which will always give me something in the end. The things I get will either just appear randomly, or I get some kind of ability to go to the place where I can get them.
And The latter is what happened yesterday after I met the twins and this M- I meant cute spirit right there"
"Besides, I bear no Ill will to this domain and its residents; in fact, I quite like the village of Arlam. Much less the folks from the mansion that the woman I have an adoration of, live with."
Roswaal was taken aback after hearing Jin's last words and realized that it was either one of the twins.
Roswaal did not reply but opted to stare at Jin more heavily this time.
While Puck laughed after hearing it.
"Hahaha! You're really forward Jin! And fearless to boot! After all, nobody would ever have the guts to say that they like Roswaal's cherished staff that he treats as his daughters right in front of his face."
Jin shrugged in response and before proudly stating.
"Don't care, I like her, and I was planning on asking her hand anyways…Well, more like I intend to let him know of my intentions since Rem has not accepted me yet. And I don't mind! We just met after all; it would be strange for a girl to start liking someone she just met. In fact, I would be concerned if that ever happens to our daughter."
"Oh my! How bold. You're already thinking about your children, even though you two aren't even in a relationship with each other" Puck teasingly replied as he flew around in a circle while giggling.
"Huhu, of course! I have never failed in courting women before!" Jin proudly stated with his head high, which wasn't wrong per se, that he never failed in courting women because he never did court a woman.
Unfortunately for him, though, he said it in a tone that suggested a different scenario; in front of a rather protective archmage, "Dad," with said "daughter," Jin planned to court.
*Fwish* A fireball passed by Jin's head as it continued towards the flaming phoenix before it disappeared right as it neared Phi, as it subconsciously absorbed it.
"Fuck! What was that for?!" Jin asked with a palpated heartbeat as he looked at Roswaal, only to see his enraged(?), smiling face, which sent the message of "hehe, I'm gonna kill you" vibes.
"Well, Well, a scum da~ares to try and court one of my precious staff, and even be proud of it in front of my fa~ace. I'm assuming you're ready to die?"Roswaal's venomous voice sounded as he started to float. In his right hand were 4 colored balls of mana constantly spinning slowly.
Although, In truth, Roswaal was merely using this as an excuse to test this anomaly in front of him, while thinking of possible ways to exploit him.
Jin gulped, realizing his mistake which turned into a misunderstanding. He looked at Puck who just smiled teasingly and said. "I told you so~, well, good luck, loverboy! I'm gonna protect this guy until they finish awakening."
Puck then flew near Phi, feeding him fire mana in the air, and left, the sweating Jin to face Roswaal alone, without being able to transform into his current strongest rider form and the only form of which he has a chance to beat Roswaal, that's if he did get killed multiple times during the fight.
"Now then, what are you doing there sta~anding like a fool, do you want to die without being a~ble to fight back?" Roswaals voice echoed once more before another fireball was fired toward Jin, prompting him to roll away.
"Shit! He's serious!" Jin cursed before he stored the duffle bag hurriedly in his inventory while retrieving the Amazons Driver(Alpha) from the storage and strapped it in his waist before he twisted the driver's Acceler Grip.
<[ALPHA!]>
<[Trapped in the wild, WI-Wi-WILD.]>
"Amazon!" Jin exclaims, and a high heat-pressure steam blasts out around him, affecting everything within a few meters around him.
The Steam cleared up, revealing Amazon's Alpha in all his glory.
*Crack* *crack* Jin cracked his knuckles, looked at the surprised Roswaal, and announced.
"It's time to hunt"
"Ho~oh, hunt you say? You're treating me as a pre~ey now?" Roswaal mused in amusement while looking down at Jin 10 feet below him.
"We're about to find out!" Jin retorted before he lowered his body in a squat.
"Now, what are you gonna do~ I'm flying after-" Before Roswaal could finish his word, he was interrupted as he was dragged further above with Jin holding his clothes tightly.
Jin ended up dragging Roswaal far away from the gathering of spirits before Roswaal was able to free himself from Jin's grasp, much less to Puck's annoyance as he won't be able to see the show.
Roswaal launched a fireball point blank, hitting Jin's entire body, and sending him far away.
Roswaal followed suit to see Jin, standing up amidst a pile of fractured wood from the trees around.
"Not ba~d, enhanced strength and durabili~ity?" Roswaal voiced as he looked at Jin, who raised his hand in the air, opening his palm.
"Now what are you do~oing?" He mused without doing anything, but Jin didn't respond and just held out his hand.
Suddenly, Roswaal turned around as he felt a fast-approaching object, which arrived not long after.
Jin held Kyomu once again, and the suit's green eyes lit up.
"We~ll then, let's see what your sword is made of," Roswaal voiced before he shot another fireball towards Jin, who swung Kyomu, dispelling the fireball with ease.
Seeing this, Roswaal smiled ferally as he said.
"It seems like this is gonna be quite an interesting fight."
Roswaal then raised his right hand, this time materializing dozens of the fire bullets that he had used beforehand before he made a throwing gesture, which launched the suspended fire bullets toward Jin.
*Swoosh* *Bang* *Fwoosh* *Bang* The sound of the Flame bullets hitting the ground sounded, launching debris of land around, while also destroying any tree they hit, scorching them down and slowly, but surely turning this part of the forest completely bald.
Jin defended by slashing what he could and evading what he couldn't, the scorching heat did not bother him one bit as he was bathed in one of the hottest flames not too long ago.
Each slash of Jin dispelled the flame bullet aimed at him, and he didn't mutter anything as he was fully focused on the fight at hand, dodging and slicing before counterattacking with a wave of Blight corruption which Roswaal defended with a simple barrier spell which broke after making contact with the corruption, basically canceling both their abilities.
"Your sword has quite a na~asty ability, and it's strangely similar to that of one of the gre~at mabeast… " Roswaal then proceeded to defend with a barrier spell once again after another blight wave was sent towards him, and he decided to touch the corrupted part.
"Oh? It se~ems like I made a mistake; this one seems to be much more dangerous than the Black Serpent, as it turns a~nything into dust." He corrected as he gazed his eyes towards the glove that had slowly turned into dust, before hurling in a wind slash and speeding stone bullets.
Jin did not reply and instead was about to close in the gap between the two of them, dodging and slashing apart the spells Roswaal sent, while Roswaal materialized the four colored marbles of mana once again, this time, with more intensity and launched it to meet Jin who prepared to slash the marbles apart.
The two were prepared to end one another this time, or just send each other to the hospital, but it was stopped by a thick wall of Ice that appeared in front of each of their attacks, which stopped the two in their tracks.
"Stop! That's quite enough, you two!" Puck's decisive voice echoed before he landed on top of the ice wall.
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A/N: I forgot abt the 5 chapters... 😭
Anyways I'll post them now.. Hope you enjoy!